Power outage delays A's-Rays

Lightning strike causes 19-minute interlude in finale

By Bill Chastain / MLB.com

ST. PETERSBURG -- Tropicana Field protects the players, the fans and the field from the heat and inclimate weather. However, a lightning strike on a stormy day managed to interrupt Thursday afternoon's contest.

A's starter Dallas Braden had just walked Carlos Pena with two outs in the first when the lights went out at Tropicana Field. The inside of the park went dim, but not totally dark as players left the field for the ensuing 19-minute delay.

The Rays' public relations staff attributed the problem to a lightning strike that knocked out the incoming power to the nearby 16th Street Substation.

After the delay, Braden took his warmup pitches, then retired Jason Bartlett on a soft liner that first baseman Bobby Crosby caught in foul territory to end the inning.

The Rays went on to win, 6-5. Pinch-hitter Ben Zobrist tied the game with a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth and Carl Crawford then won it with an RBI single.

Bill Chastain is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.